"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." - I Corinthians ii. 9,10.

We have been requested to write some on the ninth verse, which ends with the word him. There are some things which cannot be discovered or found out by the seeing with the natural eye. Neither can they be learned by the hearing with the natural ear. Neither can they be discovered by searching. They never even so much as enter into the heart of the natural man. "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in all his thoughts." - Psalm x. 4. The things that pertain to God and godliness are not in his thoughts. They have never entered into his heart, and never will. Something must be done for such a person (the wicked), not something done by him, but for him, before he will ever even think upon the name of the Lord, in a right way. He must be changed from his state of wickedness, must be brought out of that, before spiritual thoughts or desires ever enter or proceed from his heart. His heart must be changed first.

Who can change a man's heart? The heart is the seat of affections. Who can change a man's affections, and cause him to love the things he now hates, or to hate the things which he now loves? "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." - Ezekiel xxxvi. 26. "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." - Proverbs xvi. 1. From these expressions we learn that the Lord is the One who can and does change the heart. He gives a heart of flesh. He prepares the heart. Without this preparation of heart, without this heart of flesh, one does not, and cannot, desire or love spiritual things.

"Eye hath not seen." Here is something which cannot be learned, or known, or discovered, through the power of natural sight or vision. True, with the natural eye, we can and do behold many of the wonders in the realm of nature. We can see the great mountains, and valleys, the broad rivers, and expansive plains; we can see the stars which bedeck the heavens; we can see the moon, which rules the light by night; we can see the sun, the great center of the solar system; we can see the great variety of minerals in the earth, upon which we live and move; but we cannot see the invisible things of God. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard." - Psalm xix. 1-3. These material things which we see speak in thunder tones, by day and by night, in all the habitable parts of the world, and declare that God is, and that He is the God that He is - the great, infinite, eternal, all wise, omnipotent Jehovah God, the great Creator of all material things. But the wicked, unregenerated sinner cannot see beyond these visible material things. The great and wonderful spiritual blessings which God has prepared for His humble poor are not discovered, they are not found, they are not learned by the power of natural sight. "Eye hath not seen." That is just as true today as it was when it was written. It was not true then because it was written; but it was written because it was true. It had always been that way; it was that way then, and it is that way now; and it always will be that way. No sinner, then, ever has learned these precious things which God has in store for His afflicted people by reading any book, or by reading any man's writings, or by reading the tracts which men print and circulate, or by reading and studying their Sunday School lessons. They are not discovered or learned that way.

"Nor ear heard." These things cannot be learned by the hearing of the natural ear. One hears the sound of the preacher's voice, when he is preaching, with the natural ear. It is a natural voice, and it is heard with the natural ear. But these are things that are not imparted by the organ of hearing, for it is true that "nor ear heard." Jesus said to some wicked unregenerated Jews, "Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word." - John viii. 43. They heard the vocal sound of His voice; but they did not understand His teaching. Why did they not understand it? Because they could not. The understanding does not come that way. They had hearts of stone; they did not have the hearts of flesh. One must have a heart of flesh, a heart of understanding, in order to be able to understand. If such characters, or such persons, could not understand the preaching which Jesus did while He was here in the world, preaching His own glorious and everlasting gospel, do you suppose we have any preachers in the world today who can do a better job in making them understand than He did? If a preacher does preach in such a way as to make the world understand and "fall in" with his preaching, it can be for no other reason than that his preaching is of the world. "They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." - I John iv. 5,6. The inspired writer here gives an infallible rule by which we may know a man who is of the world in his preaching. If he preaches so the world hears and believes his preaching, it is because he is of the world in his preaching. John tells us his preaching is the spirit of error. It is not the truth; he does not preach the truth. He preaches false doctrines of men - and perhaps the doctrines of devils. But the world does not hear those who are of God in their preaching; the world does not hear those who preach the truth, as God has given it to us in His Book. If one does hear us, why does he hear us? Can it be for any other reason than that he was first made to be of God, seeing it is true that "he that knoweth God heareth us;" and "he that is not of God heareth not us?" "Nor ear heard."

"But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." If you know and realize something of the greatness, the love, the justice, the majesty, the righteousness, the glory, the mercy, the riches, the presence of God, it is because some of these things have been revealed to you by His Spirit. If you have been given to know something of the glories which await the Lord's humble poor beyond this vale of tears, it is because something has been revealed to you by His Spirit. It is by the Spirit of God that you have been given to know something of the things of God. Hence, though you be poor in spirit, and hunger and thirst after righteousness, you have the Spirit of God dwelling in your poor heart; and all the good things which God has in store for His humble poor are yours, and they are yours to enjoy in all eternity beyond this world of sorrow and trouble.

May the Lord graciously bless the reader, is our humble prayer.

C.H.C.

Reproduced from vol 7 of Editorial Writings from "The Primitive Baptist", 1940-42, pp 204-8.